Western Lit. 1-30: Ethics and the progress of History?

     The biblical narrative exists within the context of a rich historical setting and draws influence from many popular works surrounding it. There is a crucial difference between the Bible and all other ancient literature: in the Bible, ethics are crucial in determining the direction and development of history. Throughout all of scripture, an emphasis is always placed on the importance of ethics as a guiding principle and the consequences of choosing between good and evil. Therefore, if we are to understand the view of scripture, we must understand its views on the role of ethics in history. This essay explores the key role of ethics in the development of history as presented in the Bible. The reader should come to this understanding by analyzing key stories and passages that demonstrate the centrality of ethical living in the biblical narrative.

The Bible as a whole emphasizes the significance of ethics in relation to the development of history, but this message is particularly prominent in the early sections of Genesis. At the beginning of the story, God is depicted as the sovereign creator, the bringer of order and goodness to the world. In Genesis 1-3, man is presented as a ruler over creation, made in the image of God, responsible for upholding the ethical system imposed by the sovereign. However, the temptation to prioritize human knowledge and morality over the wisdom of God's system leads to conflict. This eventually results in the sanction of spiritual death for those who choose their own morality over obedience to the Father. The story of Cain and Abel exemplifies this conflict. In this story, Cain fails to give proper respect to the sovereign by making a proper sacrifice. As a result his sacrifice is rejected, making it worthless. In turn, the bitterness of Cain results in him falling prey to sin through the first death. As a result, Cain is ostracized from the community, though not given the death penalty. This oddity seems to stem from the inherent value of every individual, an essential part of biblical ethics. The building of the first cities by Cain, described in this story, is presented as an example of the immorality of man serving as the guiding principle of civilization. The story of these two brothers reinforces the idea that actions have consequences and that man must respect the order of a higher power.

The story of Noah and the Ark, found in chapters 6-9 of Genesis, further illustrates the consequences of widespread evil and the importance of living according to God's ethical system. God enacts worldwide justice and recreation through the very waters of creation, with the Ark serving as a saving sanctuary of grace for the faithful. The story also reinforces the idea of the Adamic covenant, as God reaffirms his expectations for man. In the story of Ham, we see a man who refuses to turn away from his father's naked sins and as a consequence, passes this sin down to his own son, carrying the concept of generational sin into the new age of man. This strongly supports the narrative that ethical sanctions play a key role in the development of history.

In Genesis 11, the story of the Tower of Babel presents the sin of man as the romantic pursuit of our mortal ambitions in rebellion against God. The attempt to create a way to perfection apart from the divine ethical system leads to the fracturing of society and the collapse of the mortal hierarchy. The story introduces the concept of ideology, the romanticization of one's own sinful identity apart from ethics. The central idea conveys that the desire to forge meaning outside the ethical system of divine hierarchy erodes society and fractures mankind. The state is depicted as the key perpetrator of this sin. However, it is composed of unethical individuals who have chosen to prioritize their own desires over obedience to God.

Throughout Genesis, the centrality of ethics in the narrative is emphasized. The symbolism of these stories is dense, but the focus is primarily on ethical themes rather than technical details. These stories seek to build an understanding of the biblical covenant, which is a covenant and a narrative driven by the moral order of the universe. The covenant presents five points: the sovereignty of God, the role of man as God's agent over creation, the function of God's law as the standard for judgment, the predictable two-fold sanctions of the law, and inheritance or disinheritance. These stories reinforce these points through their depiction of the consequences of ethical living and the importance of obedience to God's ethical system.

In many ways, the Psalms retell the stories of Genesis from an ethical perspective. Each chapter further emphasizes the importance of adhering to God's ethical system. They present the idea that obedience to God leads to prosperity, while disobedience leads to ruin. The Psalms also depict God as a righteous judge who punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous. This reinforces the idea that moral choices play an instrumental role in the progress of history through the consequences they bring.

The prophets, particularly Isaiah and Jeremiah, further expand on the theme of ethics in the development of history. They present God as a just and holy judge who will punish the wicked and bring about justice for the righteous. Many songs and poems in their books support the concept of national consequences for disobedience to God's ethical system. Nations that turn away from God will be punished, while those who remain faithful will be blessed.

In the New Testament, Jesus further emphasizes the importance of ethical living and the consequences of disobedience. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches the importance of inner righteousness rather than outward actions, and emphasizes the importance of living according to God's ethical system. Christ taught that those who believe in him will imitate his virtues, leading to a life of infinite fulfillment. This results in the kingdom of heaven coming to earth in the life of God's people. Ultimately, biblical history ends with the final judgment, which places a priority on the choices that have guided one's life.

To sum up, the Bible teaches that the cosmic conflicts of history are ethical. The central narrative of the text is based on the consequences of choosing between good and evil, right and wrong, lawful and unlawful. The narrative is supported by the five points of the covenant: the sovereignty of God, the agency of man to rule in God's image, the objective law of God being the central principle for living right, the absolute justice of the divine, and the idea that the meek inherit the earth. Throughout each story and passage in the Bible, the issues of life are presented as ethics first with technical details second in importance. God is presented as a soverign lawgiver, and a just and holy judge who punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous. The key emphasis of the scriptures rests on living in accordance with God's standards and principles. Holy judgement from God according to these principles is both the beginning, driving force, and end of history. In the Biblical narrative, there is no doubt that ethics are the most crucial factor in the direction and development of history.

Western Civ. 1-30:

What points is Pericles trying to make about Athens in his Funeral Oration?

    The history of the west is laced with stories of great heroes and great men, and all these are a credit to the historian, the writer, and the playwright who made them famous. Of ancient Athens, a so-called great hero is found in Pericles, the leader of his nation. His deeds are recorded by Thucydides, the great historian of the Peloponnesian war. His histories absolutely exclude supernatural explanations and unreliable testimony, but with one exception. The overarching narrative is driven by idealized or fictional speeches. These are stylized attempts to give an elegant window for understanding motivation and emotion. A classic example is the funeral oration of Pericles. The speech was delivered after the first year of the war, at a time when many were beginning to doubt their resolve toward conflict. The speech is considered a rousing attempt to revive the morale of the Athenian people for their city. 

    In what is considered one of the great speeches of history, Pericles makes the case for the great struggle of the day. As only a true Apollonian could, he praises the sacrifices of the dead worthy of imitation. He praises their great ancestors and the honorable legacy they are defending. Finally, he praises the present virtues of the Athenian people and their 'great state'. The ultimate goal is to seize up the torch of their legacy, to carry it down through history, and to carry on their current war as a duty to future generations.

    The great statesman begins by saying that it is very difficult to give true honor to the dead, but that he must try. The vastness of the deed and the honor of their sacrifice has made it so. Nevertheless, according to the custom of the day, he must attempt it. In transition, he continues by praising the ancestors, elaborating on the glory of the city they have built, the city-state of Athens. The great institutions of this state were a credit to their wisdom. Their struggles had won glory, power, and freedom for posterity. He says in essence that the state of Athens is a shining example to all other states. Their state is the fairest in all the land, and everyone is represented in the democracy. He says this as if to Imply that a democracy is more accountable and desirable. Praise was given to the wonderful bureaucracy, the most equitable of all the institutions. They were sure that the peace and fraternity of their city flowed from the greatness of democracy. 

    Above all security and prosperity are said to come from the state. After all, the state provides bread and circuses. The city has much trade because of the greatness of the state. The military of Athens is pictured as the sole defender of liberty. According to the general, his soldiers do not need to train hard, and yet are the best soldiers of all. He believes that the Virtues of Athenians are unparalleled. The people of their state are a grade above the rest of Greece. Athenians can and will do everything better, in peace and in war. The enemies and subjects of Athens attest to her glory, and history attests to the valor of the Athenian city-state and its people

    As a general, perecles is in touch with the motivations of his men, and h wants them to know that the struggle is worthy. He says that the deeds performed in the service of the state magnify their virtue, and unlike most, the deeds of those who die for the state are worthy sacrifices. As a statesman, he did not want soldiers to think about the cost of their sacrifices. He only needed them to believe fighting for the state would be worth it. In any case, these men would fight for for proper glory without trembling, it was an honorable cause. 

    Men will fight for anything if thy are made to believe their sacrifices are important. Thus it is important to give soldiers the impression that their deeds are noble beyond words. By not elaborting on exactly why it is so glorious to die for the state, sacrifices become justified by the beauty of what is allegedly protected.  In so doing, the sacrifice becomes the reward and the motivation for acting, and this glory increases with the magnitude of the thing being sacrificed for

    To the families of the dead, he gives the impression that they should be thankful. After all, they had many happy years with their sons, and now those sons died for a noble cause. He wants them to believe that the world has not come to an end, and life goes on. Many of them may have children again, than they should take solace in this. But if not, they should at least take comfort in the idea of honor and the sense of safety won by their lives. As citizens he encourages them to get on with their lives, honor the dead, and let their memory live in peace. He sys that women shouldn't cry too much, as it would make them weaker than they need to be. Now, he says, the state has paid its way in customary thoroughfare and in welfare for the children of the dead. Everyone will share in the expense of paying for the misery inflicted by rulers. He asks the people to enjoy the bread and circuses of the festival, and to depart in peace. 

    The tone of this speech is a tone of self-declared love for the state. It is designed to compel obedience from his people.  It does this by expounding on the glory and virtues of life within the state. He acts as if any sacrifice is worth it for the splendorous opportunity to participate in cosmopolitain life. He calls for soldiers to imitate the same virtue for the further glory and security of the state. The central point is really this: "The state benefits you, but you exist to serve the state. Take comfort from your collective pride in the polity, since that is the most worthy thing of all." The entire speech shows that the people of this time had no authentic spiritual life, because in reality, they worshipped the state. There is a real danger that Americans could become like this, and many already have. Young men are willing to die for their corrupt government, but deney christ before their brothers. I pray we will never decent to the level of the reeks during this war, but I fear we are already on th fast-track to do so again. 

Gov. 1A-30: Run Roughshod and Smooth Handling *

    When Libertarians define state power we typically ascribe the source of that power to the explicit threat of violence. If the state could only operate according to this principle the power it would exercise over society would be far less grave. Indeed, the majority of the state's influence comes from subtle corruption and bribery. Not the sword, but bread and circuses. Indeed, it seems the entire purpose of discretionary spending is to secure state power in an age where it is increasingly irrelevant. To the people receiving federal money, all seems well and prosperous. What they don't realize is that the same money which benefits them also extends a sinister tentacle of control into their lives. It is impossible for the state to extend the smooth hand to give without also extending the rough one to control. 

    The eternal fallacy of statism is to believe that one can receive benefits by living at the expense of others without also suffering the proportional consequences of state control. In private life, we know nothing is ever really free, and so it is with the state. Being a monopoly on government, the state always secures its power by imposing rules for the use of its 'free' money. Rulers promise to help communities, but they only do this in search of approval. The incentive is to target a demographic, not to provide services that help people. The people distributing the money have the power to do good and to do evil, and they have goals and an orientation toward control. Of course, there are always strings attached. Money is only doled out with the stipulation it will be used to further the ends of the ruler.

    What do we mean by control? state control of what? The beneficiary, that sector of the economy? the market? all government? society? the lives of every individual in its jurisdiction? No, it must control all of these. The claim of the modern state is sovereignty, by definition, it controls its subordinate units. By nature the state has rejected local independence, it favors centralized power as a fact of its existence. The main tendency of the state is to consolidate federal power, and believe it or not, there are no effective checks on the growth of state power. As individuals, rulers always want more power to suit their ever-expanding ends. An empire can never grow so large and tyrannical as to satisfy a ruler. 

    The best way to envision the ways of the state is to view them as a web of control. The charity of the state, like the silk of a spider, exists to trap their source of power. Rulers wish to feed on you their prey and swell the body of the state. A shining promise hangs above the web, hiding everything in its glare. The web of silken strings is only seen by the prey once they fly straight into the creature's lair. like Eros the bugs near the light, not knowing they can never have what it offers, there are always webs of strings attached. The creature that weaves this web feasts and swells with new power. Observers might not even blame the spider for feeding in this manner, but nobody can deny how it has captured its source of power. 

    Let us be charitable to the statist and assume all of his theoretical rulers are perfectly benevolent and altruistic. They have put a lot of time and money on the line toward a goal. That money HAS to have strings attached, otherwise, it might be used for something not so desirable. Laws are a form of string, they stipulate how the money can and cannot be used. Even if the money is given as discretionary spending there are certain ways it has to be spent, and certain things are required of the recipient. Imagine billions of dollars were doled out with no strings attached, all you can see is corruption and scandal. In fact, such a policy would cause the ruler to lose legitimacy, the opposite of their goals. No, for rulers to be legitimate and attain their 'benevolent' end the money needs to have labels, like infrastructure or homelessness. Inside the state, oversight by incompetent bureaucrats is seen as the best way to prevent this, even if it is stupid. The outcome is the same either way, waste, embezzlement, and misallocation. The difference is that politicians can say they spent a few extra millions on infrastructure or homelessness, some token topic. So even if rulers claim to be benevolent, the underlying incentive structure of state aid lends itself to control and corruption. 

    To see the full and terrifying consequences of this we need to look no further than the reservation system. However you choose to see reservations, either as some form of benevolence or attempted genocide, they are appalling. It is hard to pin down exactly how much is allocated to the system, but most sources put it between two and twenty billion dollars. With this amount of money, undereducated observers might expect serious benefits. However, the results are just the opposite. Native Americans are among the poorest and most underserved communities in America. Where does all the money go? And why have native Americans remained so poor on reservations faithfully managed by the state? It has to do with this appalling web of threads woven with money. The offer of Federal stewardship is the light that attracts the flies, but they get caught by the web made with strings laid by the spider. Once the public is hooked on that offer it becomes caught in the web of rules, regulations, and entitlements the state weaves. Once the offer is accepted the people become slave vassals who only exists to feed the bureaucracy. The state tear into the very being of personality with its imposed law and manufactured justice. The system of reservation camps are said to be independent, but reality is far from it. The promise of democracy is that citizens will be cared for by the bottomless pocketbook of the state, but the truth is that the state owns them. The state holds an impossible claim to all land, all wealth, and all freedoms, even the very personality of the individual is claimed by the state. For the price of all being, they receive nothing because the state does not exist to serve them, its motivation is to feed on them. Any money spent is beyond touch, it disappears with corruption, waste, and embezzlement. This is the reality of your Democratic peoples state!

    Despite all objections, it is impossible for the state to extend the smooth hand without the rough. Promises of aid conceal the more sinister realities of state rule. Masters have ever-expanding fanticies of power, there is no rest in the lust for power. No kingdom can ever satisfy a tyrant, and altruism suffocates the world like an overbearing mother.  Tyranny never doubts her ways, once began, a policy of control is never relinquished. Every law, every act, and every decree works to feed the beuacracy, to feed the state, to give sucor to the tyrant. These promises of candy cottages for every little girl and boy are a great wool over the eyes of the people. A witch stands at the door and promises everything in the world, but it only wants to feast on innocent flesh. If our nation is to prosper it cannot make insane promises of every kind on this green earth. Our people cannot not permit scheming politicians to fleece the nation again and again for whatever they desire. The politics of plunder can lead only to a suffocation by tyranny and the death of all that makes us great.  The people of this once great nation must cast off the great illusion before it is too late! America must embrace freedom, it must embrace liberty rather than death! 

• all it does is create corrupt lies

Western Civ. 1-30: Modern Parallels From The Peloponnesian War

    A major war is forever the defining event of a generation. It is no wonder that they are said to divide history with their earth-shaking consequences. In the history of the west, there have been three wars that truly marked new eras in history. These were the European civil war of 1914-1945, the Thirty Years War, and the Peloponnesian war. From 431-404 BC. The latter is largely remembered as a self-destructive atrocity never to be repeated. Today, all Greeks see themselves as culturally united and the war as shameful brother killing. The great tragedy of the war was the end of peace and unity among the Greeks. Greek brotherhood was undermined by the state to produce war, famine, economic conquest, and death. Terrible war ended the Greek golden age, overturned the Delian League, and shifted the balance of power. The present situation of the west is deeply analogous to this ancient period. This essay will explore the parallels between the two ages and their implications on history. 

    Collusion between states will typically happen after a major war, and the Greek example was no different. Similar to postwar NATO, the Delian league was formed in response to an eastern threat. Like NATO, the alliance initially proved its value through wars and interventions spearheaded by the dominant power, Athens. But after the Peace of Callias, many members questioned the purpose of their continued membership.  For protection, each member state was expected to contribute to 'the cause of freedom'. The most controversial requirement was the building of ships, which was often just outsourced to Athens. With so much money flowing through the treasury, Athens began to embezzle funds to build monuments and public works. Eventually, the Athenians even moved the treasury into their own city, a clear sign of imperial intent. Athens being Athens, she answered objections by citing the cost of rebuilding her city. Embezzlement is corrupt, but not so corrupt as the scandalous plundering of America to fund foreign aid programs. 

    During the same period, Athens became aggressively imperialistic. Modern America loves her puppets, but Athens also enjoyed colonies throughout Ionia, the Bosporus, and the Aegean islands. Strangely similar to the contemporary doctrine of Pax Americanus, A host of garrisons in the Agean gave Athens a strategic advantage. With such mounting controversy, some states got cold feet. Naxos and Thalia withdrew from the Delian League, and Athens demanded their return under a serious threat of war.  We ought to ask what would happen if some country left a modern pact like NATO. Hypothetically imagine that the Ukrainian government joined Russia, or there was some similar occurrence elsewhere. Concerns about the imminent growth of a rival empire would surely spark WW3. In the case of the Greeks, this conflict sparked the most violent war in their entire history, The Peloponnesian War. According to Thucydides "The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm that this inspired in Sparta made war inevitable." Sparta was a state analogous to China, a rival of America with similar concerns about their rivals. Sparta and its allies in the newly formed Peloponnesian league invaded Athens in 431 BC. 

    During the war, the Athenians stuck to naval confrontation, their shared strength with America. In order to save their population, and prevent a defeat on land Pericles built a long wall connecting Athens proper to its powerful harbor and naval center. The Athenian strategy was to wait for the siege to be called off. The state welcomed every refugee that came near the city, but their plan had a serious flaw, They did not think of plagues. Such a plague broke out in 430 BC, killing 1/2-2/3 of the population, including Pericles. This tragedy was highly demoralizing, but the war continued. Today America also welcomes every refugee, and our cities are full. But the American plague is far more dangerous, it is a plague of rival ethical systems and tribal identities. This nation is welcoming people who would make the country their ethnostate in an instant if they had the numbers, and we are giving ourselves away to them. Can America survive a race war? Should we tempt it on the brink of WW3? It seems unwise. 

Over time the war was locked in a stalemate. The divide between the strength of the states was too large, and neither could strike a decisive victory. This is also analogous to the current world situation, war, politics, and the dynamics of strategy have not changed. It is doubtful that either America or China could strike a decisive blow from across the pacific, the only sure thing is that it would be a long and bloody war. After ten years of stalemate and fighting a truce was struck in 421. For a time it seemed like politicians would exhibit learned behavior, but they had only gotten bored. The war started again with the disastrous Athenian expedition to Sicily. It all began when the Athenians became lustful for blood and empire. For a state one war is never enough, the assembly wanted to sacrifice its military for a new colony in Sicily.  As in all democracies, mass psychosis and group pressure prevailed. An invasion of Sicily was prepared, but they underestimated the enemy. The following expedition ended in catastrophic failure, prompting the Spartans to break the uneasy peace. 

    This expedition illustrates a few important ideas about the condition of the democratic state. To begin with, the whole decision-making process of democracies is broken. The court of public opinion is not a court of justice, and neither can it make rational decisions without the ability to do a cost-benefit analysis. For example, the Athenian commander Niceas called for reinforcements when the Syracutions proved too much. The Assembly was hasty to comply, the costs of raising a second army were distributed and not specific to them. All democratic legislatures suffer from the drunkenness of public opinion, but they drown in sunk-cost fallacies. When an expedition is first declared all seems well, but nobody considers the real cost. When it begins to fail the politicians always fall for the fallacy. In their empire, much like America, political ventures have no costs, only sinking! The consequences are distributed and the voters unaccountable, the democratic state is like a kid in a candy shop with a platinum credit card. 

    The idea of rational Greeks is a myth, they were as human and as dead to reality as the rest of the world. Both in terms of their democratic tomfoolery and their pagan religion. The Athenian army was about to evacuate when they saw an eclipse. General Nicias listened to his seers and took this as an omen, but his mistake gave the enemy enough time to block the mouth of the harbor. All escape attempts failed. In the end, some 50,000 men from Athens and its allies were killed. Now speaking of wasteful specialization, America is no better. We still have pointless wars just like this one, but we do even stupider things yet. Social security, welfare, clean energy, and more, the 'expeditions' of congress are bleeding our country dry,  but we suspect nothing of the sort. 

As you might expect, the result of this expedition was political instability and infighting. Democracy is the citizen passing the buck to the best demagogues, and so you would expect the demagogues to do the same and point the finger rather than take the blame. A democracy is always at war with everything, Other states, its own citizens, other politicians, its laws, and finally nature itself. In the case of Athens, there was a series of coups and political putsches. For the part of statists, at least they are consistent, in foolishness that is. Sparta felt threatened by the imperial tendency of Athens, saw an opportunity, and took up arms once more. What the greeks never understood is where real power comes from, from spiritual and material consistency oriented towards the highest definite goals. Honest people know these goals are Christ and the wealth from the free market. 

    When they fought their foe Athens was routed in battle, but the war continued, only more sinking could bring them to the muck where they saw their highest glory. It was only with the Spartan victory in 404 BC that the Delian League was dissolved. With the defeat of an embarrassed Athens, Sparta briefly attempted to emulate them by establishing an empire. Statists never learn, will they? After the war, Athens had to submit to Sparta, more unneeded proof that might makes right and destroys great civilizations. The Spartans established naval power by granting Persian control over Ionia. Wheeling and dealing with your own people away for empire is usual fodder for states, even small ones. Meanwhile, the rule of the thirty spartan tyrants was in full effect in Athens. When America falls I wonder what our new warlords will look like? Perhaps they will be a la Man in the High Castle, or perhaps the very same Jews who rule us now. No matter what, it doesn't matter, they are all the same in the eyes of God. Eventually, they are overthrown. The least we can say of the common man is that he is resistant to tyranny, even subconsciously. 

    In the end, all empires must fall, and power swings on a seven-axis pendulum. In 371 BC spartan power was overthrown by Thebes. By the mid-fourth century, no one city-state was dominant. Politics and wars had exhausted the city-states. Again, the basic error of statism is to believe that power comes from military force, but military power is unstable and built on temporary advantages. The true power of nations comes from their consistency with reality. A nation that is oriented towards truth will have direction and movement towards the good. The first of the two key principles of power is personal transformation by the high spiritual order of Christ. The second comes from the open conduct of economic life, a function of population times cultural innovation plus the potential for free trade. Any nation built on these principles will prosper spiritually and economically. Wars destroy both the economy and civilization of a people.  Rebellion against God and the choice to pursue military strength over the things which truly build a nation destroyed Athens, then destroyed the strength of all other greeks. The resulting weakness of the Greeks meant they would be ruled by the power of Macedonia and would never again enjoy the glory of their independence again. 

We must recognize that wars are dick-measuring contests between states, but they do not build up a nation, they can only destroy a people who are already weak. The present situation of America is analogous to the greek situation after the Persian wars. The great eastern enemy has been defeated, the intervening wars have been waged, the alliances have been forged and the corruption sewn. Sooner or later there will be a conflict, but we know from history that humanity will only remember this coming war with shame. Conflict always rises from the united disunity of federations and the will to power. The solution is not to create one large state, but that is an argument for another day. What we must realize in order to thrive is that the world is already more united in Christ and the market than it ever was under a federation of states. In the future of this country, there are two paths, war, and tyranny, or peace and voluntarism. Of the two, I prefer the latter. Choose consistency, chose for the truth to set you free, not to be dead in slavery to rebellion. 

Western Lit. 1-25: Ethical Sanctions in Proverbs

Write 500 on this topic: "Discuss the relationship between ethics and sanctions in Proverbs 1-7."

    The book of Proverbs is somewhat peculiar in that it is the only biblical book with an introduction. In the opening chapters of 1-9 Solomon provides an overall view of its goals, but also an excellent outline of the rest of the book, thus we will focus on them. The first capter covers the ethical basis for his claims in the entire book, but this introduction is extended to each of the nine chapters. He explains the purpose of the book is to teach his son(s) "Kohkmah" or wisdom in the form of applied knowledge. Attached is the idea of reverence and awe to God, this brings forth a humbled ethical mindset in which the individual totally submits himself to the divine in order to gain blessings. 

    The book follows a series of ten speeches which deliver parallel naritives about ethical living and the approval of the highest father. These books are considered as the wellspring of hebrew literature, including the later psalms and extra-biblical literature. To that effect they do not focus much on much about sovereignty, hierarchy, or inheritance, though these thems are touched on. The real focus of proverbs is to contrast the wisdom of God with the foolishness of evildoers. It does this with examples of the sanctions granted to the adherents. Each diologuge speaks about the blessings and joy that wisdom brings its adherents, but foolishness is seen as self destructive. 

    One of the most salient points goes like this. The incarnation of wisdom offers itself as a blessing to the ones who will receive her. This is the image of a woman standing in public selling her goods to the foolish. However they ignore the excellent deal and instead turn towards her rival, a prostitute, who slays her victims in her dungeon and hides the bodies. All the fools know about this possibility, and dread it, but they choose evil anyway. This is the idea that when the thing you dread strikes you, the wisdom you ignored will haunt you. That your evil desires will reap and eat what they have planned and sowed. These chapters involve negative sanctions for evildoing, but the ultimate sanction is to make your life so miserable that it was if you were dead, suffering, and caring out in agony unable to scream forever, this is the hell man makes of himself. 

    Individuals should follow the ethical system they have discovered as a result of their pursuit of the divine, this will bring positive sanctions to their lives. Evil comes from a neglect of wisdom, your failure to orient yourself and act properly results in greater suffering.

    The book of Proverbs is not only for the king, it is the wellspring of a broad array of ancient wisdom literature. It showed the people that wisdom meant to to receive discipline that leads to insight, Righteousness, justice, and the straight ethical path in life. A good life meant the freedom found in voluntary submission to God, but that foolishness is a way to pour out our life and ruin it. It taught that the wisdom of God brings glory to its adherents and the incarnation of wisdom offers itself freely to everyone and only fools would reject it at their own demise.  It is an commentary on Ethics which reports sanctions as the result of our willful choices in life. 

    It might be useful to recap all of this information. The goal of the text is to teach wisdom, it is taught from the perspective of a king speaking to his son. I'm sure Jung and Perterson would have plenty to ay about the importance of the king and father archtypes here, but nevertheless, it comes from a place of knowledge and genuine advice. The king advises that theives may entice the son to do evil and to act destructivly in the kingdom, but they do not know this behavior is self-anihilating. He teaches that Wisdom is freely available, but it must be accepted and cherished like a good woman, people ignore this offer and instead prefer a 'quick flick' with their desire over what will truly be valuable. The implication is that we should not be ethical simpletons, we should heed the sanctions of the Logos, and strive for a transendently valuable etos rather than an inauthentic and weak one. The book teaches that there are imperative ethical consequences to action, and through imagery and symbolism It fosters a love for wisdom and righteousness. We have to strive for the practical, applied knowledge of ethics, and if we don't we will be cursed to consume ourselves in a pit of death.

Western Lit. 1-25: Aristotle: The Philosopher

    When we speak about philosophy, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For most people in the west, it is an image like that of Raphael's School of Athens, a picture of Greek architecture and Greek philosophers. Why does this image strike us so vividly? Perhaps it is because a large part of all human achievements happened in the backwater called Greece, especially in the small city of Athens, during a period of only 300 years. More importantly, the most prolific scholar of the greatest philosophical epoch in human history lived there, and his name was Aristotle. He is known as the father of modern science and the creator of the first empirical method and the logical method. His writing covered a vast array of subject matter including philosophy, science, and politics, in over 200 treatises. As a teacher, he influenced figures such as Alexander the Great and Theophrastus. After his death, his writings were preserved by his students and went on to dominate western and Islamic thought for the next 2,000 years. When we speak of philosophy we might think of the Greeks in general terms. But when we speak of philosophers themselves, we think of The Philosopher.

    Many scholars have a high output, Mises wrote at least 28 volumes, Gary North produced over 50 books, and Rothbard churned out at least a whopping 60 complete books. These are by no means small contributions, but Aristotle, over his lifetime, produced more than 200 works, of which only 31 lectures survive. these alone cover volumes in the fields of biology, botany, chemistry, ethics, history, logic, metaphysics, rhetoric, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, physics, poetics, political theory, psychology, and zoology. Out of all his work, which is almost beyond belief, his greatest contribution was to make the world curious about knowledge. For the first time in history humanity began to wonder about how things worked, and today we stand on his shoulders, able to see the world much clearer than ever before.

    It complements a man of great intellect to teach his wisdom, and by doing so his students inherit his methods. As a lifelong scholar and teacher, Aristotle laid the foundations of formal logic which were considered the standard for millennia. After leaving Macedon in his youth Aristotle studied at the academy for 20 years. During this time he was surrounded by the platonic tradition and managed to improve upon it with his own ideas. After some time his fame spread and he was summoned by the King of Macedon to tutor and influence the greatest warrior who would ever live, Alexander the great. This education would have a profound effect on both men as Alexander fell deeply in love with Hellenic culture. In return, Alexander received a gift equivalent to millions of dollars for the founding of The Lyceum in Athens. This would be a center of intellectual influence in Greece for hundreds of years. 

    The preserved writings of Aristotle only constitute about a fifth of his total output, and yet they encompass nearly a million words. These were partially preserved by later Roman philosophers such as Cicero and Seneca. After the fall of the roman empire, the works were lost to the Latin west but survived in the East. Here they were inherited by the Islamic caliphates and the Easter Empire. They were held as nearly sacred writing by many including Caliphs, Emperors, scholars, philosophers, and scientists. Here they aided even further developments in science and philosophy. After the fall of Constantinople, they were finally translated into Latin and had a profound effect on medieval Europe. Throughout the Renaissance and enlightenment, they played a central role in western thought. Great men such as Thomas Aquinas, William of Oakham, Francis Bacon, and Ludwig Von Mises all followed the Aristotelian tradition of science and empiricism. Over time all of the sciences he pioneered were refined and perfected by the west, but that would have been far less likely without him.

    The end of Aristotle's life came unexpectedly but in its own good time. After the death of Alexander, he fled from Athens and passed away from a bowel complaint. He was laid to rest next to his late wife but he did not die there. He pioneered many fields of study found in modern science. His work laid the foundations for logical studies and the scientific method. Throughout his life, he had tremendous influence from a long successful career and academic position in his lyceum. His preserved writings have influenced scholars from all over the west and Islamdom over millennia. For these reasons and many more, we remember Aristotle as the greatest philosopher of all time, THE Philosopher if you will.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle#:~:text=He%20made%20pioneering%20contributions%20to,Athens%2C%20known%20as%20the%20Lyceum.

Gov. 1A-25: An Infantile Trust: Power and the state *

    In recent years there has been a lot of hubbub made about the definitions of words. Many people are unable to provide simple definitions of nouns, but something even more difficult is defining the proper role of the state. For their part statists seem unable to agree on what constitutes a legitimate government, or what its role might be, but most of all not a single one of them agrees on what the state ought to do with money. Everyone agrees they should be doing... something but how could they know? Should it dictate the use of language? Flatten the economy to an anthill? Win the war on drugs? Cover the country in solar panels? Provide insurance to pay big pharma? For any of these things, the state must have money. But the state is a monopoly of violence first and foremost, they are in the business of producing bads, not goods, and nobody will pay them for it willingly. For this reason, they level taxes on everything under the sun. A gas tax, liquor tax, sales tax, inflation tax, even bagels are taxed! This means that the benefits of any spending are a package deal with the tyranny of taxes.

    Any rational person has to reject this view of the state as a benevolent maternal goddess. Humanists disgrace the name of Christ and mock his children for believing in what they call an immoral fairy tale. At the same time, they also worship a god which has bread for all mouths, productive work for all hands, Capital for every venture, unending credit, and debt, and salve for every wound. Voting is their prayer, monuments are their temples, and politicians are their priests. What they refuse to admit is that their false god is supported by theft and violence alone. They are dupes of one of the strangest illusions that have ever taken hold of the human mind, even stranger than the communists pretend Christ to be. They mock the church saying it oppresses the poor, but the opposite is true. Our goal is to become one with the Logos so that we might glorify him, and that desire spawns a love for our fellow men who are also made in his image. Likewise, the goal of the statist religion is to live life at the expense of others. This sick desire is a source of war, plunder, slavery, and all manner of other atrocities.

    The deep desire for sin in man is grounded in the desire to gain satisfaction without regard to anything besides self-destructive gratification. In a statist society, the oppressor does not oppress his victim directly, he calls on the state to do it for him. But their god is imperfect, "it can never satisfy one party without adding to the labor of others." Truly, "Government is that great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else" (Bastiat, Government, p.99). "But truly, the most astonishing aspect of this religion is the blindness of the people to the scandal of it all. They are utterly unable to apply their most fundamental morals consistently. If they did, they might begin to suspect that 

"reciprocal plunder is no less plunder because it is reciprocal" (Bastiat, Government, p.100). In the same way that we are told Christians do not question our beliefs, the statists make themselves hypocrites. 

    From wherever a people get their laws, there also will you discover their highest god. In the modern world, the state is the source of law, sanctions, succession, authority, and sovereignty. this fallacious representation of deity is a fertile source of calamities. The state creates millions of tiny 'unseen' problems with its corrupt doctrine, but statists ignore this and attribute the problems to externalities rather than the perverse covenant system. They don't think of it this way but the state is a creature with two hands. One is a large and rough hand for extorting large quantities of wealth. The other hand is small and soft, it is for giving back a little. On account of the second hand, they count the creature innocent, but the giving would be impossible without the taking, and the monster keeps far more than it gives back. The thing that is seen is the blessings of the giving, but the unseen cost is the hoard of wealth the dragon steals and then gambles away.

    There are other problems with giving trust to a state, they are extremely unstable. No organization can go on stealing and creating grievances without upsetting someone, but even if stats could exist peacefully nobody agrees on how they ought to be run. These conflicts are the source of civil war, insurgencies, and revolution. This might not seem like a big deal at the moment, but America perhaps has dealt with the most rebellions of any country in the world in recorded history. There were possibly hundreds of Indian Wars, over 250 slave rebellions, and hundreds of other political engagements from every corner of the political spectrum. Outside of America, many countries have coups every few years. South America, Africa, Southern Europe, and Asia, no matter where you look this is a serious problem. It starts when a new government comes to power, and inevitably begins to lavish promises which are impossible to perform, but even these promises differ from those of the public, which has hopes and dreams that can never be realized. Over time some states realize it is much easier to promise than to perform and to do it repeatedly, so once it is broken, and it is, everything stays broken.

    

    But how does the state keep up with any of its promises? It is impossible for a state to give more than it takes. It does not add any value to society. At best it can only add unwanted utilities, if the people wanted them they would pay for them voluntarily. All the state does is seize money and redistribute it without prices, which means it is always bashing its brains out on the socialist calculation problem. Even if they did have a way to tell if what they were doing is valuable, the state has no incentives to create value. Politicians are only incentivized to create a perception of value to citizens in order to be elected. While in office there are only weak personal and moral incentives to do good. But there is absolutely no real mechanism for regulating the way political action is pursued. The legislature can vote for any crime, any injustice, and any measure of spending

    So how does the state reconcile this irreconcilable conflict? Well, much like its lower-class citizens, it lives on credit. It does this by requesting Moral, Social, and Economic loans which it quickly spends and never intends to repay. It is far easier to swap out the talking heads and point the finger than it is to solve problems because solving those problems would literally cost them everything. The result of this unsustainable cycle of spending and borrowing is crippling bankruptcy. This bankruptcy extends to all areas of society including the moral, social, and economic realms. The very idea of a state is that it should give more than it takes. But this is both impossible and harmful to everyone involved, I suppose it just "comes with the territory".

    Friedreich Bastiat put it about as well as anyone could. "Government is and ought to be [seen as] nothing whatever but common force organized, not to be an instrument of oppression and mutual plunder among citizens; but, on the contrary, to secure everyone his own, and to cause justice and security to reign." (p. 107) But the state does the opposite. As a monopoly of violence, it perverts the purpose of the government to produce only evil. We must abandon mutual plunder and the imbalance of promises between what can be done and what we want to be done. That kind of thinking leads to War, Plunder, and Slavery. The deification of the state is an illusion that feeds on its own love of sin. To end this cycle we must have a way to restrict governments to securing rights. The way to do that is to ensure they check each other's power in the marketplace of ideas. They have to follow the path of objective morality and for that to happen God must be the highest sovereign. We cannot trust the state, therefore our goal is a voluntary society based on the law of God, not the politics of plunder.